This data collection comprises two components of the
Community Tracking Study (CTS), the Household Survey and the
Followback Survey. The CTS, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, is a national study designed to track changes in the
health care system and their effects on care delivery
and individuals. Central to the design of the CTS is its community
focus. Sixty sites (51 metropolitan areas and 9 nonmetropolitan
areas) were randomly selected to form the core of the CTS and to be
rep... (more info)

This data collection comprises two components of the
Community Tracking Study (CTS), the Household Survey and the
Followback Survey. The CTS, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, is a national study designed to track changes in the
health care system and their effects on care delivery
and individuals. Central to the design of the CTS is its community
focus. Sixty sites (51 metropolitan areas and 9 nonmetropolitan
areas) were randomly selected to form the core of the CTS and to be
representative of the nation as a whole. The Household Survey was
administered to households in the 60 CTS sites and to a supplemental
national sample of households. At the beginning of each interview, a
household informant was identified and queried about the composition
of the household. With this information, individuals in the household
were grouped into family insurance units (FIU). An FIU reflects family
groupings typically used by insurance carriers. It includes an adult
household member, his or her spouse, if any, and any dependent
children 0-17 years of age (or 18-22 years of age if a full-time
student). Family informants, selected from each FIU in the household,
provided information on health insurance coverage, health care use,
usual source of care, and the general health of all persons in the
FIU. These informants also provided information on family income and
out-of-pocket expenses for health care, as well as employment, race,
and Hispanic origin for all adult FIU members. Each adult in the
household, including the FIU informants, responded through a
self-response module to questions regarding unmet health care needs,
patient trust, satisfaction with physician choice, limitations in
daily activities, smoking behaviors, and last doctor visit. In FIUs
with more than one child under 18, only one child was randomly
selected for inclusion in the survey. The family informant responded
on behalf of the child regarding unmet needs and satisfaction with
physician choice. The adult family member who took this child to his
or her last doctor visit responded to questions about the visit. The
Followback Survey was designed to obtain detailed information on
private health insurance coverage reported in the Household Survey. It
was administered to health plans and other organizations that offered
or administered the comprehensive private health insurance policies
covering Household Survey respondents in the 60 CTS sites.
Information on private health insurance policies collected by the
Followback Survey includes product type, gatekeeping, consumer cost
sharing, provider payment methods, and coverage of mental health
and/or substance abuse services.

As explained in the technical documentation, some variables are restricted from general dissemination for reasons of confidentiality. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete an Agreement for the Use of Confidential Data, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Apply for access to these data through the ICPSR restricted data contract portal, which can be accessed via the study home page.

Methodology

Sample:

Household Survey: The CTS sites were selected using
stratified sampling with probability proportional to population size. The supplemental sample, which was selected with stratified random sampling, was included in the survey to increase the precision of national estimates. Most households were selected using list-assisted random-digit dialing. In addition, area probability samples of housing units were selected in order to represent households without telephones or with intermittent
telephone coverage.

Followback Survey: Health plans and other
organizations that offered or administered private health insurance (generically referred to as "entities") were identified using the names of health insurance plans and employers that Household Survey respondents provided. These entities were asked to provide information
on all of the private policies covering the 38,310 privately insured Household Survey respondents in the 60 CTS sites. Interviews were typically conducted with health plan marketing staff in order to determine the characteristics of the products that the entities
offered, and then Household Survey respondents' policies were matched to these products.

Mode of Data Collection:
mail questionnaire,
telephone interview

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Performed consistency checks.

Standardized missing values.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1998-09-11

Version History:

2009-10-27 Stata setups for Datasets 1-3 and SAS and SPSS setups for Dataset 2 were added to the collection. In addition, some minor revisions were made to the SAS and SPSS setups for Dataset 3.

2000-09-25 A total of 56 Household Survey variables were
revised as a result of changes in editing and confidentiality masking
procedures. For a list of these variables, users should consult the
documentation. Additionally, data from the Followback Survey were
added to Part 3, Restricted-Use Version of the Main Data File. To
obtain these data, researchers must agree to the terms and conditions
of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.

2000-03-23 Part 1, Public-Use Version of the
Main Data File, has been updated: variable SPANISH was added to the
data, variables RACEX and RACEREX were revised, the SAS and SPSS data
definition statements were revised, text format changes were
implemented in the user guide and codebook, and text describing the
use of weights was expanded. Also, a restricted-use version of the
Main Data File has been added to the collection as Part 3. To obtain
the restricted-use file, researchers must agree to the terms and
conditions of a Restricted Data Use Agreement.